More Year-round Schools Begin

Classes Start Monday For Hundreds In Hampton

HAMPTON — The James family visited their 7-year-old's school last week to meet teachers and get to know their son's new classroom.

It was "Meet and Greet Day" at Bassette Elementary, and it would normally take place in late August.

Not this time.

Bassette and three more Hampton elementary schools -- Aberdeen, Lee and Wythe -- are switching to a year-round schedule starting Monday. Also the elementary and middle school grades of Hampton Harbour Academy, a charter school, will switch to a year-round schedule.

FOR THE RECORD - Published correction ran Thursday, August 2, 2001.An article about year-round schools in Sunday's Local section misidentified Frank James of Hampton as James Frank. The article likewise misstated the last name of his wife, Denise Frank, and their son Sean. (Text corrected.)

"So do you like going to school in July?" Denise James asked her son, Sean, who is entering third grade.

The family is one of hundreds in Hampton making the switch to the year-round schedule this summer. The James think the schedule's frequent breaks and shorter summer will help their son remember what he learns, as well as give him some extra help with school work if he needs it.

For now, Sean's dad, Frank James, wonders how things will play out not only at school but also at home for the rest of the summer.

"When he comes home with homework and his brother is watching TV, that's going to be a problem," Frank James said with a chuckle.

This summer about 6,500 students in the Peninsula area will attend year-round schools, with more than half of those children enrolled at Hampton public schools.

Hampton City Schools leads the Peninsula area with the highest number of year-round schools. With four new schools adding to a total of seven schools this summer, the district ranks third in the state after Virginia Beach and Fairfax County.

Not surprisingly, the driving force behind year-round schedules in the state is Virginia's Standards of Learning. In the case of Hampton's four new year-round schools, the focus is to improve student achievement. The four schools were the only ones in Hampton accredited with warning in one or more subjects, based on last year's SOL testing results.

Proponents of year-round schools believe the schedule gives students more time to learn and less time to forget what they learn.

Wythe Elementary Principal Donna Warthan said her biggest expectations of the new schedule are the intersessions. These periods of one to two weeks allow parents to take vacations. But Warthan hopes parents will choose to send their children to the voluntary sessions to get extra help with any subject they are weak in.

The traditional schedule didn't allow the school to serve the number of students who needed remediation, Warthan said. Teachers couldn't offer students the individual attention they needed.

"We had to wait until the summer," Warthan said. "By then, the gaps in learning got bigger for some students. By summer school, the problems had compounded. A pothole became a sinkhole. That was frustrating."

Lee Elementary Principal Marece Mayo said that by the time summer break used to roll around, students coined a new acronym for the SOLs: Sick Of Learning. She hopes the new schedule's frequent breaks will keep both students and teachers energized.

"I think the kids won't be so worn out," Mayo said. "Year-round is a remedy for that."

Rasheed Clark, who starts fifth-grade at Lee on Monday, said the schedule change feels strange, especially because so many other children will be on vacation for another month.

"My friends say it will be boring," Rasheed said. "I think it'll be very fun and good for us."

His mother, Andria McCray, said a month's vacation during the summer is enough time off. The shorter break, "keeps their minds going," she said.

YEAR-ROUND SCHOOLS IN PENINSULA AREA

The number of students attending year-round schools continues to increase. About 6,500 students in the area attend such schools. With four new year-round schools opening this summer, Hampton City Schools continues to be the leader in the area. Hampton also has the third largest number of year-round schools in the state after Virginia Beach and Fairfax County.

HAMPTON

Aberdeen Elementary*

Bassette Elementary*

Lee Elementary*

Merrimack Elementary

Smith Elementary

Wythe Elementary*

Spratley Middle School

Hampton Harbour Academy**

NEWPORT NEWS

Dunbar-Erwin (An Achievable Dream)

Suffolk

B.T. Washington Elementary

Northern Shores Elementary

YORK

Magruder Elementary

Yorktown Elementary

* Indicates schools opening this summer as year- round.

** The charter school has grades three through 12, but only elementary and middle grades become year-round.

Miriam Stawowy can be reached at 247-7854 or by e-mail at mstawowy@dailypress.com